Sonic movie director Jeff Fowler has said he would be interested in working on a Super Smash Bros. film adaptation but admits there would be a few legal hurdles to overcome.
In an interview with ComicBook.com, Fowler was asked if he would ever like to helm a big-screen adaptation of the Super Smash Bros. franchise, having just come off the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie, which he directed following the first installment in 2020. He indicated that he was open to the idea of a crossover, though there would be a few logistics to consider.
“Nothing would make me happier than to just throw all the characters into a battle royale and do a big Smash Bros. thing. That would probably require some work from the lawyers before that could happen,” Fowler said, contemplating what it would involve. “Getting Mario and Sonic in the ring, I mean everyone would be kinda dying for that, right? That’s just classic.”
As the outlet notes, Sega owns all of the characters from the Sonic franchise, but Nintendo owns Super Smash Bros and many of its associated characters, so there would likely be quite a few legal permissions to check off in order to merge the two in one film. Mario is, however, making his way to theaters later this year in an animated film from Universal and Illumination.
Nintendo is also said to be exploring animation projects beyond Super Mario, and early reports suggest Seth Rogen might be getting his own Donkey Kong movie. The project is reportedly already in the works at Illumination — the same animation studio that is working on the Super Mario Bros. movie starring Chris Pratt as everyone’s favourite Italian plumber.
Sega is also at work on several spin-offs and sequels for its burgeoning Sonic Cinematic Universe. It’s already been revealed that a third Sonic the Hedgehog movie is in development, while a Knuckle spin-off is in the works for Paramount Plus, with Idris Elba returning to voice the role of the red echidna following his first outing as the character in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is now in theaters with a wide April 8 release date, and the film will apparently be “chock full” of Sonic 2 game references as the sequel is expected to lean more into Sega’s source material than the first Sonic movie installment, which IGN rated a 7 out of 10, calling it “a fast-paced joyride that’ll ring in entertainment for both fans and children.”
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.